DT1 has arrived.....initial thoughts.

[sk1]

Well my pack arrived today, totally excited but have almost no time to use it until I go back to work this weekend. So here are my limited initial thoughts, will post an update this weekend.

Man, this thing is huge!! I got talked into the DT1 by many folks here instead of the DT2, and with good reason which is why I changed my mind, but holy crap...haha. I dont have a problem with the size, although it does extend higher up than I am used to (like I lean back and hit my head on it)

Very plain and straightforward.....nothing special. I guess what I mean by that is with the amount of cash I dropped on this I think I expected to open the box and have it glow like a just opened a treasure chest in a movie or something lol. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this, I think I just expected to see it and say "wow" but I didnt, seems well made and durable. When I opened my 2012 Kuiu Icon 5000, you could see the technological advancement in trying to be the best pack out there. I could see it in the Kuiu, but that being said, it was also horribly uncomfortable for me. So the wow factor obviously has nothing to do with pack fit or functionality.

Initial fit is great, I watched a 9 minute kifarutube video with aron and kevin and this thing fits perfect. I still need to test it as I only had time to load the pack with 20lbs, but those 20lbs felt great. I went with the composite stays, so hopefully I dont have the issues some people have had when loading over 50lbs, I am going to try it out on saturday loaded down heavy.

I ordered the grab it primarily for carrying my bow.....seems like it will work fine for that when backpacking in.....however being that it connects on the bottom with those like 3 bar sliders? I wonder how much weight it can really take if you ever wanted to do something heavier.

I ordered 2 small hip pockets, so far I feel like they are the perfect size....their small is bigger than most companies hip pockets that you cant stuff anything into once you pull the waist belt tight.

Hip belt pulling to the center to tighten, love it!! I've used this with other packs and am always confused why it isn't the standard with all packs today, it's just so much easier to tension.


That's really all for now, I've only looked at it briefly, but I hope I have nothing but great things to say once I get this sucker loaded down! My only concern is not alot of padding on the waist belt, am concerned it will heavily bruise my pointy hip bones, but hopefully proper fit eliminates some of that. Will report back in a few days when I get back to work.

 

[Ryan Avery]

I guess what I mean by that is with the amount of cash I dropped on this I think I expected to open the box and have it glow like a just opened a treasure chest in a movie or something lol.

It will shine like a diamond with a load in it!

 

[luke moffat]

Yep, all the bells and whistles look cool on a pack, but when the heavy loads are thrown in the pack, those aren't what make a pack work better and more comfy, hard to see a packs suspension shine with your eyes, its more something you feel on your hips and shoulders.

 

[slim9300]

I have had over 100 lbs. of meat and antlers held only by the Grab It and one lash strap this year. I don't think you will have a problem. Within a mile I decided I was better served with the meat in my pack for balance purposes but it worked without any problems.

On another bull this year, I carried two bone in quarters with only the Grab It and a lash strap (one hind and one front). My pack was nearly empty so getting the load close to my back was cake and thus the load balanced much better.

 

[hammer0419]

Yep, all the bells and whistles look cool on a pack, but when the heavy loads are thrown in the pack, those aren't what make a pack work better and more comfy, hard to see a packs suspension shine with your eyes, its more something you feel on your hips and shoulders.

Exactly

 

[swat8888]

You'll probably need to rig something up to hold down the top of your bow. The grab-it was not enough just holding the bottom of the bow. I put a small 1/2" nylon strap with small buckles through the attachment straps on the top of my lid (Standard lid by the way). At the end of my 10 day hunt the bow pulling against the attachment straps had almost completely pulled out the stitching. Had to send it back to Kifaru to get them stitched back on. Just something to keep in mind, maybe you can find a better way so some of the pressure is off of those loops. I also found it very helpful to put a small piece of foam in the bottom of the grab-it so when I dropped my heavy ass pack I wasn't banging my cams off of rocks. I used a small piece of an old sleeping mat that I carrying around as a glassing pad.

 

[sk1]

second thoughts:

So I am at work with the pack and strained my lower back a bit working out yesterday.....dang it. Today however my back after heat and some ibuprofen was feeling pretty loose, so I had to give it a try.

I loaded up 75lbs into the pack and hopped on the incline treadmill.....feels great! I only did it for 10 minutes not wanting to strain my back, but my hips felt great and didnt hurt my hip bones like i am used to. I had almost no weight on the shoulders and got plenty of lift from the load lifters. I could feel lots of pressure on the lumber pad, but not uncomfortable in anyway, but I can see how it will definitely end up a hot spot....I am curious if this will be an issue and need to eventually switch to the flat back stays or not......but I am thinking only time will tell if that is going to be an issue for me.

so my second impression is money well spent, I will be cutting the snow collar off my DT1, this pack is a keeper.

 

[Buckman]

Everyone talks about cutting off the snow collar, myself included. But this year I needed it. So my thoughts on this is , why not cut it off and add a zipper to it, there when you need it gone when you don't. This is what I may do.

 

[sk1]

well, I made a 4600 cubic inch pack work for 8 days this year.....i was going to get a DT2, guys here suggested the DT1 and it made sense for a bit more room.....I am not saying there couldnt be a circumstance where the snow collar would be awesome, but as it stands for my normal hunting it is totally overkill. I also have the longhunter lid which is another 1000cu, and, you can strap things down above your pack having the lid hold it down, just as if you had a snow collar.

i can tell you this, for what I typically use the pack for, its more annoying than anything else....it's getting the axe tonight!

 

[Jdallen]

The pack like you said doesn't initially have the wow factor when you open the box that you would expect for the price. But with that being said when you load the DT1 up with a moose quarter and walk out 4.25 miles.... You will understand why you paid the money! Extremely comfortable and handles the load very well.

 

[swat8888]

There are alot of guys wanting to hack off the snow collar on their DT1's. For whatever reason I just can't bring myself to hack it off, however, I did think of an idea. Since I like the snow collar, I think just because it keeps all my stuff contained in the pack, even when jam packed instead of a bunch of crap hanging off the straps or under the lid. Since quite a few of us don't need/want the full weight of the snow collar could Kifaru instead use a different material for the snow collar? Use the lightweight material from the KU packs for the snow collar material. After all you really don't need the durability of the heavy cordura, its more just to contain the contents of your pack than prevent a bunch of abrasion that really wouldn't occur at the top of the pack.

Aron- would this be something that Kifaru could custom stitch onto folks DT1 that still want the snow collar?

 

[Steve O]

Wouldn't a couple strategic pieces of velcro keep the offending snow collar folded over on itself on the inside diameter of the pack and not getting in the way every time you wanted to get something out of the T1/DT1? I like the KU material idea too!

 

[m1garand]

Bingo, I think that's it! I like snow collar's for when the pack is stuffed full of gear you still have the access to not to smaller items such as food and rain gear at the top of the pack.

 

[sk1]

i had even though just a few strap loops inside the pack, and the snow collar to have several 3 bar sliders to attach inside the pack to those loops, like to waist pockets attach.....that way you could entirely remove the snow collar, and only have like a 2 oz penalty while leaving the pack fully functional if you ever wanted to use it with the collar...

i thought that was a cool idea, but what do i know! i know mine is still coming off, i didn't do it the other day like i planned, but it will be off before i go out hunting saturday

 

[Lawnboi]

Im really tempted to cut off my snow collar, and sleeping bag divider. The only thing keeping me from doing it is the resale value of the pack.

I always fold my snow collar in when im not using it, it is kind of a pain in the butt having all that extra material there though.

 

[sk1]

not sure what I am going to do with the sleeping bag divider yet, originally I had planned to keep it, I like that area divided.....but when I got the pack and saw it doesnt like zip seal shut from the main compartment, just some velcro that doesnt seal it up tight......it may eventually get cut off. time will tell on that one, it wont be happening right away though until im sure.

 

[MattB]

My T1 sleeping bag divider is going unde the knife. The snow collar is too funtional for the weight for some of the thing I am going to use the pack for to cut off.

 

[luke moffat]

My T1 sleeping bag divider is going unde the knife. The snow collar is too funtional for the weight for some of the thing I am going to use the pack for to cut off.

That is where I am at....snow collar is useful for me....sleeping bag divider, not so much, everyones needs are different. Dumping the sleeping bag divider and hydration sleeve in my T1 equals roughly what the snow collar does, but doesn't make my pack smaller I went that route as I max the cubes on my pack out often if/when we get lucky enough to haul an animal home.

 

[stephen b]

On my Longhunter Guide- I carefully cut out the sleeping bag divider; I kept the cordura piece and tabs just in case I ever change my mind and want to sew it back in- which would be easy enough. But... I doubt I ever would, as it does not really fully divide and is mostly in the way.


Thankfully on the LH guide, I do not have to decide on the snow collar- because there really is not a true separate one. The cordura just goes all the way up in one piece above the ht. level of the stays; and there is only one pull cord tightner at the top. Otherwise it would then be something I may consider- but I like having the extra cubes if I need them.

As far as the Hydration sleeve on my LH guide- for now it is in there and it may remain that way. I do like how on my LH guide, the hydration sleeve is a long narrower section in the middle of the pack where you can get around each side of it if you want to. I did not like the hydration sleeve on the DT2 bag that I received ( which is being sent back - since I am keeping the LH Guide over it) because it is so darn big. If I was going to be keeping the DT2, that hyd. sleeve would go.

** I just measured the difference between the LH guide hydration sleeve and the DT2 sleeve-

The LH guide measure 6 3/4" wide and 15" long at sewn attachment points on the back panel wall. It sits in the middle of the back panel with room to reach down around both sides.

The DT2 hyd. sleeve measures 11" across and is 17" long. It completely fills up the whole back width of the inside of the back panel- which to me is way over kill and if I was keeping the DT2, I could see how it would get in the way if I did not cut it out.

 

[sk1]

I like the idea of being careful when cutting something out......say if i ever want the snow collar, i could have attachments sewn in to attach and remove it, or i guess you could do velcro. i dont for-see myself ever doing this, as I think stacking up is generally easy and compressing with the lid.....but you never know, so cut carefully!